150 Militia Take Over Makhuer National Wildlife Preserve Headquarters

Jeff Banta testified for the defence today. Read from bottom up

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...c9c2ec1a37e85e

September 28 Briana Bundy on Twister Radio with host Jim Lambley


http://ice9.securenetsystems.net/med...anna-Bundy.m4a

Rangefire report, Day 12. http://rangefire.us/2016/09/29/ongoi...-defense-case/


DAY 12 — Thursday, September 29, 2016
The pace of the defense case slowed down today. It had been anticipated that the defense would call Rev. Franklin Graham and Harney County Sheriff David Ward, and possibly even get to Ammon Bundy. Instead, there were just two witness: Reverend Graham and Defendant Jeff Banta.

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Rev. Graham testified about his role in the negotiations and ultimate resolution of the occupation. Jeff Banta had suggested him as a possible third-party negotiator because he didn’t trust the FBI negotiators he was dealing with. The the FBI’s credit, they made a good faith effort to enlist Graham’s assistance, and it appears to have

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played an important role in the final resolution and surrender of the final four hold-out occupiers at the Refuge, including Sean & Sandy Anderson, Jeff Banta and David Fry.

At a certain point Rev. Graham started communicating with the hold-outs on a daily basis, to establish rapport and a relationship with them. He said his main motivation was to try to help save lives on both sides. He said that both he and the occupiers were genuinely concerned that the FBI would run out of patience and just start shooting, just to end it. He said that in all his discussions with the last four hold-outs, he never heard them make any threats to anyone, and concluded that they were mostly just genuinely concerned about their own physical safety.

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On February 10th Graham responded to a plea from the FBI to come to Burns to be on the ground in an effort to negotiate an end to the occupation. Although the FBI offered to pay his airfare, he flew himself from North Carolina in his private plane, and was taken to the Refuge from Burns in an armored FBI vehicle, and was instrumental in helping to negotiate the final resolution of the occupation.

Graham said he had no formal standoff negotiation, and credits God with direction to help bring about a satisfactory conclusion, with no blood shed.

After Rev. Graham concluded his testimony, Defendant Jeff Banta testified. Judge Brown reminded him that he has a Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, but he said that he has nothing to hide. Banta testified that he went to the Refuge to support the protest in favor of the Hammonds. In fact he had hoped that Ammon Bundy might be able to make an introduction to the Hammond family to see if they could use some help on their ranch while Dwight and Steven were in prison. When asked on cross-examination why he had never talked to Ammon Bundy

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about that, Banta responded that Bundys were arrested so shortly after he got there that he didn’t have a chance to talk to them about it. He said that he only talked to Ammon Bundy for a minute or two and had no opportunity to get to know them first. Banta testified that because he didn’t trust the FBI, he suggested Rev. Franklin Graham as a negotiator. Banta testified about the final phase of the occupation, before surrendering to the FBI. He said he had a rifle and shotgun in this truck when he went to the Refuge, that he keeps there esssentially on a permanent basis for hunting and target practice. He also testified that a couple of “guys with white beards” showed up at the refuge, and made matters worse. He felt like they were either government agents, or agent provocateurs, actively seeking to stir things up and/or make things look worse than they really were.

Once again, after, late in the afternoon after the jury had been excused not just for the day, but also for the weekend, a myriad of motions were argued before Judge Brown. The only motion that Judge Brown did not deny outright, was Shawna Cox’s motion to dismiss Count II against her. Count II is the firearms charge. The

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government had said it had a witness who would testify that he saw Cox with a firearm at the Refuge, but everyone else said that was not the case, and the government did not call that witness curing its case in chief. Consequently the government put on no evidence that Shawna Cox ever possessed a weapon at the Refuge.
On that score, this is a good juncture to address another issues. Although no evidence was presented during the government’s case in chief that Ammon Bundy was ever seen with a firearm at the Refuge, evidence was presented that Ammon Bundy had purchased a Savage .300 win mag hunting rifle in Glendale, Arizona in 2012, which was one of the guns found at the Refuge.

Something I read in one of Conrad Wilson’s references, however, raised an interesting issue for me. When Bundys were arrested, in support of the charges against them, FBI Agent Katherine Armstrong signed a sworn statement stating that Ammon Bundy possessed and was armed with a .40 caliber handgun when he was arrested. But Armstrong was never called to testify, and this claim never came out in the evidence at trial. That raises all kinds of interesting questions. When you consider the ramifications of this, along with the increasingly obvious lies and cover-up by the FBI HRT team in connection with LaVoy Finicum’s shooting death, if it doesn’t leave you scratching your head, it should.

Although Judge Brown took Shawna Cox’s motion to dismiss Count II under advisement, she denied all other defense motions, and called it a week as far as presentation of evidence is concerned, which will resume next Monday, when Sheriff Ward is expected to testify, as well as Ammon Bundy.

In addition to talking to Trent Loos about all this on Rural Route Radio tomorrow morning, I also anticipate shooting some more live video clips to provide additional live commentary to wrap up the week.

For contrasting perspectives and reporting, you can also follow Maxine Bernstein for OregonLive, and Conrad Wilson for Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), or Gary Hunt at Outpost for Freedom and Redoubt News. We believe there needs to be alternative voices to mainstream media commentary and coverage of these issues.

RANGE / RANGEFIRE! — Addressing Issues Facing the West / Spreading America’s Cowboy Spirit Beyond the Outback

Trent Loos Rural Route Radio with Todd Macfarlane

http://ruralrouteradio.com/affiliates/friruralroute.mp3

Todd Macfarlane on Rangfire with the Malheur Trial week 3 review

WEEK 3 RECAP COMMENTARY

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch

You can also listen a full Weekly Recap Interview on Rural Route Radio w/ Trent Loos

Redshirt Friday — a Tradition in Honor of Our Troops and their Sacrifices
http://youtu.be/umSUa29VlG8

THE “GUN SHOW” — PROSECUTION PRESENTS ITS BEST EVIDENCE AND RESTS
AFTER NINE (9) DAYS
http://youtu.be/p1xpYoDQ1I0

GOVERNMENT EVIDENCE OF CONSPIRACY TO IMPEDE/INTERFERE BY THREATS, FORCE OR INTIMIDATION
http://youtu.be/4uaTdvZBuxo

FIREARMS EVIDENCE RE: SHAWNA COX & AMMON BUNDY
https://youtu.be/eU3Y1YjFyVw

PROOF BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT?

THE DEFENSE CASE — JUST GETTING STARTED

For contrasting perspectives and reporting, you can also follow Maxine Bernstein for OregonLive, and Conrad Wilson for Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), or Gary Hunt at Outpost for Freedom and Redoubt News. At RANGEFIRE! we believe there need to be alternative voices to mainstream media commentary and coverage of these issues.
RANGE / RANGEFIRE! — Addressing Issues Facing the West / Spreading America’s Cowboy Spirit Beyond the Outback

Todd Macfarlane added more video commentary on the Malheur trial week 3

FIREARMS EVIDENCE RE: SHAWNA COX & AMMON BUNDY
http://youtu.be/eU3Y1YjFyVw

PROOF BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT?http://youtu.be/lZD2hb3w6Xo

THE DEFENSE CASE — JUST GETTING STARTED
http://youtu.be/Azw03ZXm8GA

The bulldog in the room, Marcus Mumford who often bills himself as "The Stuttering Lawyer".

http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060043675

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SEARCH: Back to E&E Publishing index page. OREGON STANDOFF:

The legal bulldog who might just free Bundy

Jeremy P. Jacobs, E&E reporter

Greenwire: Friday, September 30, 2016PORTLAND, Ore. — One person has eclipsed even Ammon Bundy and the other defendants in the courtroom theatrics playing out over the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

It's Bundy's attorney, Marcus Mumford.

Mumford has unsuccessfully demanded a mistrial. He has claimed that federal prosecutors coached their witnesses to squeeze in prejudicial statements about his client that are irrelevant to the case. And his cross-examinations have sparked dozens of objections from prosecutors, nearly all of which have been sustained by federal District Court Judge Anna Brown.

The drama culminated last week in Brown threatening to hold Mumford in criminal contempt and fine him $1,000 if he did not follow her orders about what topics are off-limits during his questioning of witnesses.

To those who know or have gone up against Mumford in court, though, nothing about his handling of the trial is surprising.

CONTINUING COVERAGE

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E&E provides on-the-ground coverage of the armed occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and analysis of the public lands controversies that sparked it.

The Salt Lake City-based lawyer is known for pushing a judge's limits in dogged defense of his client, an unusual tactic in the typically staid Utah legal community. On multiple occasions, Mumford has received contempt warnings from judges.

Those who know him described him as "combative" and "tenacious," and they emphasized that onlookers shouldn't be fooled by his unorthodox style. Mumford is short and stocky, with thinning gray hair. He frequently wears cowboy boots and somewhat ill-fitting suits to the courtroom. He looks a little like a bulldog, as another Utah lawyer described him.

He is fidgety — crossing and uncrossing his arms; gesturing rapidly; learning back in his chair, then abruptly sitting up — and he speaks with a severe stutter, a trait that would likely discourage most lawyers from pursuing courtroom litigation.

But he also delivers results. Mumford has been involved in some of the most high-profile lawsuits in Utah, and he has frequently come out on top.

"He should never be underestimated," said Brett Tolman, a former U.S. attorney for Utah and a law school classmate of Mumford.

Tolman said the Oregon standoff, which protested federal lands management, may have resonated with Mumford, whom he recalled as having a healthy mistrust of the government.

That, Tolman said, may make Mumford even more effective in the case.

"Ideologically," Tolman said, "he probably is an even more fearsome advocate when it's involving the government."

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Marcus Mumford. Photo courtesy of Mumford Law.

Mumford, 43, who like Bundy and several of the other Malheur occupiers is Mormon, did not respond to requests for comment.

He grew up on a farm in southeast Idaho. His father was a country lawyer. He attended Utah State University and Brigham Young University's law school, and later clerked for federal Judge Monroe McKay on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mumford spent more than eight years at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York City, one of the country's largest and most prestigious law firms.

He then struck out on his own, representing defendants in high-stakes and complicated white-collar litigation.

Attorneys said he is remarkably hardworking, as well as eccentric. He is fluent in Italian and enjoys singing along to classic rock hits, such as Van Halen and Journey, according to a former partner.
Karra Porter, a prominent Salt Lake City attorney who knows Mumford, said it was gutsy to go into trial work with his speech impediment.

"It tells you a lot about his personality that he said, 'Forget that, I'm going to court,'" Porter said. Mumford, she said, has given presentations at conferences titled, "The Stuttering Lawyer."
His intellect, Porter said, is "off the chart."

Tactics that work

In the Oregon standoff case, Brown threatened Mumford with contempt after he repeatedly raised circumstances surrounding the police shooting and death of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum on Jan. 26, which precipitated the eventual end of the 41-day armed occupation on Feb. 11.

Brown has ordered that those questions are not relevant to the charges facing Bundy and the six other defendants — conspiracy to impede federal officials through threats, intimidation or force — and thus may not be raised in front of the jury.

"You are not to do that," Brown said, according to media reports.

Mumford's willingness to push the limits of a judge's order — and patience — is common practice for him.

Earlier this year, a federal district court judge in Utah also threatened Mumford with contempt and a $500 fine in a high-profile case involving whether an online marketing company had defrauded a bank and committed credit card fraud. Mumford represented one of three defendants in that case and pressed one of the prosecution's witnesses in a line of questioning that the judge had already deemed confusing to the jury and inadmissible.

And last year, he was sharply criticized by the same judge, David Nuffer, for missing 16 filing deadlines in a case where Mumford represented the Utah Republican Party.

Nevertheless, Mumford has proved effective.

In 2014, he got charges dropped against Rick Koerber, who was accused of running a $100 million Ponzi scheme. (Prosecutors may still refile that case.)

And last year, Mumford secured the release of Marc Sessions Jenson, a former businessman who was implicated in a public corruption scandal involving influence peddling in the state attorney general's office.

"No one that I am aware of has gotten more acquittals in large cases in Utah," said Nathan Crane, another Salt Lake City attorney.

'What even happened?'

Lawyers who have worked with and against Mumford said he has cultivated a way of using his appearance and stutter to his advantage.

Bret Rawson, a former partner of Mumford, said it's his "secret weapon."

"Here is an attorney who has an immediate built-in mechanism for not only underdogging himself but endearing himself to juries in a way like no other attorney I've ever met," Rawson said.
Further, by pushing judges to chastise him in court — and baiting prosecutors to object to his questions — he makes himself the victim in the eyes of the jury.

It also distracts the jurors.

That could be an important tactic in a case like the Oregon standoff trial, where the government has reams of evidence against the defendants and there seems to be little question of facts in the case. The defense began presenting its case this week.

"He is one of these guys where if he can get you in knife fighting range, that favors him," said an attorney familiar with Mumford's handling of other cases who would only speak anonymously due to the sensitive nature of ongoing litigation.

"He's not afraid to mix it up."

Matthew Schindler, a Lake Oswego, Ore., attorney who represents another defendant in the case, Kenneth Medenbach, said, "What Marcus does, Marcus does intentionally."

He noted that Mumford's unconventional cross-examination style — scattered, at times borderline incoherent and frequently eliciting objections — creates the opportunity for the jury to lose sight of what the prosecution established during its direct examination of the witness.

"It creates this kind of blizzard," Schindler said. "By the time you're done, you are left saying, 'What did the government say? What even happened?'"

The earlier attorney, speaking anonymously, said Mumford's relentlessness in court is in some ways similar to what was displayed by the occupiers during the standoff.

"He won't stop until he's in handcuffs," the attorney said.

Ernie Wayne Tertelghte explains A2/AD and the constitution of 1789. Near the end of the video the problems the Bundys are having with the government avoiding the constitution comes up and he ties it in with what he has been explaining.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRkIHVQiw_s

Ammon Bundy says the court has left him no choice but to take the witness stand so the jury hears the truth

http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-sta...feels_the.html

Also Oregon Libe reported on Court dropped fire arm charge against Shawna Cox and Sheriff Dave Ward was back on witness stand:
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i...charge_ag.html

Ammon Bundy says he feels the court has left him no choice but to take the witness stand

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Ammon Bundy Monday told the court he has no choice but to take the witness stand in his own defense because of the judge's repeated rulings limiting defense testimony about the principles he and his co-defendants stood for to strictly evidence regarding their "state of mind.''

"I do not feel that I have a choice to testify here or not,'' Bundy told U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown, who wanted to make sure his decision to take the witness stand is his own.

Bundy criticized the court's rulings that limited defense lawyers in the federal conspiracy trial from discussing the principle of adverse possession – occupation of another's land to declare as one's one - or questioning the federal government's authority over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, "leaving me really with no choice but to get on the stand and possibly be a witness against myself.''

"I have no choice to get the truth to the jury but to get on the stand,'' Bundy continued.

Bundy, the leader of the occupation, also said he's eager to testify about the 2014 armed standoff with federal officers outside his father Cliven Bundy's ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada. Bundy, his brother and other co-defendants are facing a separate, federal prosecution in Nevada for the 2014 standoff.

Judge Brown asked if Bundy had discussed the risks of him testifying about Bunkerville, and the possibility that his statements could be used against him in his upcoming Nevada prosecution.

Bundy said he hadn't discussed the risks with his lawyers.

"What I did in Bunkerville, I'm very pleased at and very excited to discuss that further in this court and in any other court,'' Bundy told the judge.

As Brown suggested that Bundy take time to discuss the risks with his lawyer, he added, "I'm aware of the risks your Honor, and my decision will not change tomorrow.''

Bundy's statement to the judge came at the end of a full day of testimony in the trial, and as his lawyers prepare to call him as a witness sometime Tuesday morning.

Earlier Monday, the defense presented to jurors the man that the FBI only could identify as "Idaho Jerry,'' pictured playing a shofar, or ram's horn, on the refuge in mid-January.

The man who took the stand is not from Idaho and is not named Jerry.

He's Brand Nu Thornton, of Las Vegas, Nevada, who traveled to Burns on Dec. 27, and testified Monday that he joined with Ryan Bundy, Ryan Payne and others as part of the first group to travel to the refuge on Jan. 2 to clear the buildings.

In response to questions from defendant Neil Wampler's lawyer Lisa Maxfield, Thornton said he didn't bring a firearm to the refuge, but saw others carrying them down by their sides, walking through the property, checking doors. At some point, someone found a set of keys, he testified.

Thornton said he attended a meeting in the two back rooms of a café in Burns, located south of the Safeway parking lot, before the Jan. 2 march in support of Harney County ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steve Hammond.

It was there, he said, that Ammon Bundy discussed his plan to take over the refuge in a peaceful assembly to bring further light to the Hammonds' plight. The Hammonds were to return to federal prison two days later to complete a five-year federal sentence for arson on public lands.

Thornton said the meeting lasted a half hour to 45 minutes, and most of those attending were part of the initial group that traveled to the refuge that day.
Thornton remained at the refuge through Jan. 25, but was never arrested or charged with any crime, he said.

Thornton testified that he mostly stayed at the refuge headquarters, cleaning and scheduling appointments for Ammon Bundy, taking phone calls and feeding the birds daily.

He said the shofar is part of his ministry, and he would blow it occasionally at the refuge to break the tension when there were disputes between those present.

Defense lawyer Matt Schindler, asked, "Anyone damage buildings'' while you were there?

"No,'' Thornton responded.

"Do you believe you joined a conspiracy with Ammon Bundy?'' Schindler asked.

"No,'' he said.

"Are you worried about being arrested?'' Schindler continued.

"No,'' Thornton answered.
Prosecutors didn't question Thornton.

Defense lawyers called four other witnesses in the afternoon Monday, including two members of the Committee of Safety set up in Harney County and two other Burns residents.

Kim Rollins, a 31-year resident of Burns, challenged Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward's "straw vote'' of the community at a Jan. 7 meeting at the fairgrounds. He called it a "straw vote to get a certain reaction.'' Rollins said he put his hand up when Ward asked how many people wanted to end the situation peacefully, but then jerked his hand down on the second part of the question, when the sheriff asked "and want these people to go home?''

"I told him I didn't necessarily want them to go home. I wanted to hear what they had to say so I as an adult could consider what they had to say,'' Rollins testified.

He said he visited the refuge last in the summer of 2015 with young relatives, and scooped up the children because the floor in the bird museum was covered with rodent feces.

Pat Horlacher, a seven-year Burns resident who works as a silversmith making shoes for horses, said he lives 30 miles from the refuge. He said he drove to the refuge within several days of the takeover to "see for ourselves if this is a legitimate threat.''

Horlacher returned a few more times, bringing eight to 10 friends. He described the atmosphere at the refuge "as laid back an environment as you could ever ask for.''

In the community, he said, "there were people terrified out of their minds and it was all off of rumors.'' He said they thought it was this "really tense armed standoff,'' but "it was not.''

In contrast, he described the heavy presence of armed law enforcement outside the Harney County courthouse and elsewhere in Burns as akin to "a scene out of 'A Red Dawn.' ''

"It was ridiculous,'' he testified.

Two members of the Committee of Safety, formed after Burns residents met with Ammon Bundy on Dec. 15, also took the witness stand for the defense.
Travis Williams, a 25-year Harney County resident and fifth-generation rancher, said he went to the meeting to find out what was behind the Bundys' visit to Burns. "If this Ammon guy was a radical, I was going to go home,'' Williams testified.

But what Ammon Bundy said about ranchers losing their grazing rights and the federal government's overreach on land management "made more sense to me.''

"We need to start taking our country back. We need to stand up to the federal government,'' Williams said.

Melodie Molt, a longtime Burns resident who is a chief financial officer for a local drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, also testified. Her husband and sons, she said, raise organic hay, alfalfa and cattle.

Both Williams and Molt said they were nominated to serve on the county's Committee on Safety at that December meeting. It was Ammon Bundy's idea to form such a group, they testified.

They said they formed the group to educate the public about the federal government's overreach, and the Hammonds' unfair return to federal prison.
"I agree 90 percent with what Ammon Bundy is talking about, but I don't agree with the way he went about it,'' Williams testified.

Both visited the refuge during the takeover. Williams said he participated in prayer with the Bundys and other occupiers, and said they weren't threatening anyone. Molt said the refuge was tidy, and she didn't notice the firearms since they're "a way of life in Harney County.''

She said there was some discussion about an "exit strategy'' for the occupiers, but the committee couldn't hold a meeting because of Harney County comissioner Steve Grasty prohibited it from using any county buildings.

During cross-examination, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel asked Williams if the Committee of Safety is recognized by the Harney County government.
"No,'' Williams acknowledged.
"Was an election held by the registrar of Harney County?'' Gabriel asked.
"No,'' Williams responded.

-- Maxine Bernstein???

mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian

Ammon Bundy's questions and answer between him and Judge Anna Brown regarding his testifying tomorrow:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1717...8423379370537/

Teresa Brookshire

1 hr

Additional from Jen Cannon who is relaying to us from being able to be in court today:
When the judge was preparing Ammon for his testimony she is required to ask a Series if questions. These are not direct quotes, but what I caught and what I wrote.

Judge Brown says, you understand you have the absolute right not to testify and to remain silent or to testify.
Ammon replies I understand my rights, yes.

Judge Brown said.. I have limited the Bunkerville evidence in the prosecutions presentation. If you speak of it this can generate questions if you testify about Bunkerville.

Ammon says I am proud of what happened in Bunkerville and I am happy to explain that in any Court.
Judge Brown asks are you aware of the risks?

Ammon says yes and my decision will not change by tomorrow.

Judge Brown. You're agreeing your testimony here can be used against you in Bunkerville.

Ammon says because you have blocked or defense in everyway I have no choice but to get on the stand and get the truth to the jury in order to clear this confusion. I have no other choice but to make a stand.


Judge Brown asks has anyone put any pressure on you to testify?
Ammon responds, to be totally honest, yes this court.

Judge Brown ask again has anyone person put pressure on you to testify.

Ammon says Anna Brown.

Judge Brown said let me clarify again has any other person put pressure on you to testify?

Ammon says besides this court? No

He takes the stand hopefully TOMORROW!

OCT. 4th 2016

They can't avoid it forever!

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